Literature, handouts and mobile phones along with two pens were also recovered from the Maoists hideout.

The Maoists have spread into the rural pockets of 20 of India's 28 states.

The Maoists have been described by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as the country's biggest internal security threat. They say they are crusading against the prevailing political system, upholding the cause of the poor and marginal farmers and landless labourers.

The movement started as a peasant revolt in Naxalbari village in West Bengal state in 1967, giving the name Naxalism to their movement and Naxalites to the cadres. (ANI)